Guardian News & Media, the owner of the Guardian and the Observer newspapers, will stop publishing international editions from October.

The move is designed to save costs at a time when GNM, which also publishes Mediatheguardian.com, is focusing a greater amount of editorial resources on its digital presence, including its websites.

The company last month announced plans to become a "digital-first organisation", a move which will lead to the launch of new digital products, including a US website, but will also involve redundancies.

Ceasing publication overseas will reduce the average circulation of the Guardian and Observer by 19,097 and 17,716 respectively, the Guardian's circulation in May was 262,937 and the equivalent number for the Observer was 293,053, according to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The international editions are printed at five sites in New York, Frankfurt, Madrid, Malta and Cyprus.

The GNM's commercial director, Adam Freeman, said the company had been reducing the number of foreign copies sold since last year: "due to reasons of demand and cost".

"We will continue to serve our growing international audience via our website and other digital platforms and we will also increase the distribution of Guardian Weekly," he said.

Guardian Weekly is a digest of the best of the Guardian, the Observer and articles from Le Monde and the Washington Post. It has a circulation of 67,533.

"This is one of a number of steps that will allow us to focus our efforts and resources on digital platforms and subscription-based products, including our forthcoming launches on Kindle and iPad, that will deliver growth in our UK and international audiences," he said.

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